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Interesting appeal to lefties to follow RL because its progressive. I have actually previously argued that in London this should be a marketing/selling point for the game to people who watch the likes of Wimbledon, Clapham FC or Dulwich. Clapham FC is down the road from Skolars and despite being in the Essex league (I think) were getting much bigger crowds than us with zero away fans.

Mind you given our owner is a city financier probably an antifa link may not be something he's keen on...

If all the lefties following Rugby were laid end-to-end, they' reach all the way to the AOB political echo chamber

In any case, did players get played for playing? Thought they got compensated for earnings lost when they played instead of working.

I don't think there is any thing intrinsically left wing about RL or for that matter many of the things the sport has done which are highlighted in the article. Next Friday Skolars' play in the heart of the city in a match sponsored by the Irish Stock Exchange amongst others, so clearly the game can sit happily in the beating heart of capitalism. I have to say one of the reasons I like RL at the level I watch it, is that there is a community feel to it and it feels more connected to the fans than even lower tier football (that and the beer).

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Taking Essex RLs advice to appeal to the left would be a huge mistake. Politicising the game this way would not be a viable option. Although posters on this form are predominently left of centre, that does not mean to say that the fan base is. "Progresive " ideas are not the exclusive preserve of the left.

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Taking Essex RLs advice to appeal to the left would be a huge mistake. Politicising the game this way would not be a viable option. Although posters on this form are predominently left of centre, that does not mean to say that the fan base is. "Progresive " ideas are not the exclusive preserve of the left.

If posters on here really are predominantly left of centre, then the sheer quantity of threads advocating a return to a mythical golden past not only contradicts claims that only the left are progressive, but utterly disproves it.

So, are we all dreadful lefties? Hmm...

Most of these TRL strategies and notions to take RL 'forward' usually boil down in the end to "tilt the playing field 'til my club does well", which is more like the go-getting, self-interest mentality of cuddly old school Thatcherism. Okay, that's still to the left of Saintslass, but probably not to the rest of us.

I am perfectly content to see union described as 'the thinking man's game'. After all, consider how often they have thought "rugby league deals with that well" and pinched some aspect of our code, whether on or off the field of play!

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I’d like to see a piece titled ‘Why progressives and/or millennials should like rugby league’ and list the progressive achievements and comparisons with football rather than start with the usual hackneyed comparisons with union.

I’d like to see a piece titled ‘Why progressives and/or millennials should like rugby league’ and list the progressive achievements and comparisons with football rather than start with the usual hackneyed comparisons with union.

While I sympathise with that wish, the wider UK public have been conditioned since birth by our magnificently unbiased media to compare Rugby League unfavourably with Rugby Union as their immediate reaction.

So it does need to be addressed.

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i don't agree with politicisation of any sport. FC St Pauli has gone from being a cool rebel football club with a left-leaning ethos to a radical feminist, SJW, hippie, non-binary cesspit of irritating self-important priveleged millenials in a very short space of time.

The fiasco with the anthem kneeling in the NFL has only hurt the sport and created animosity where it never was, and over an issue everyone knows is there anyway.

Marketing strategies can use that potential crowd as leverage but not in a way that is any way political, eg have the whole craft beer, free liberal vibe around the sport but don't ever overtly lean that way, you only lose as many people as you bring in or more.

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In any case, did players get played for playing? Thought they got compensated for earnings lost when they played instead of working.

Yes but it could include other payments. What articles like this fail to mention (probably because they don't know) and union have failed to acknowledge ever since is that Rugby absolutely banned professionalism.

In other words you had to have a proper job and not make a living from Rugby. This was strictly enforced and there was a large list of jobs that were deemed proper and a list not deemed proper such as snooker cue chalker.

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Be careful what you wish for. Politics and sport don't mix. You want rugby league to succeed in America yet you're proud of the fact that it appeals to lefties. Look at what is happening to the NFL as a result of appeasing leftist agendas. Ratings are down and people are turning away.

The irony in itself is that a sport like rugby league is trying to appeal to lefties. A group of people renowned for being pc and delicate. Go far enough and players will be hugging and kissing after every tackle.